


Some Blue Eyes

by orphan_account



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Angst, Friendship, M/M, Mutilation, Mutual consolation, Pain, Torture, Violence, a lot of other people I haven't added because I just don't know if they'll be there, lots of pain, some chitauri too, some frost giants
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-01
Updated: 2013-04-03
Packaged: 2017-12-07 05:09:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/744616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when your enemy is inside your head? What happens when plans don't go as you expected, and you are exposed to the man you tried to subdue? What happens when a pain that you don't own eats two men bounded by a clash of energetic forces?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 0. Prelude

 

 There is an anticipated longing, a prolonged aching that consumes the minds of Men, provoked by the frailty of the body, and poisoning weaker brains into despair. They are the living dead, clinging to life so tightly as if their stubbornness would save them from the inevitable fate with which their race was sealed. All those that he had seen seemed to have crawled away from their last breath with a condemnation written in their lips.   
All but one.

* * *

There was glass splattered everywhere where the eye could meet. The God of Lies and Trickery panted on his knees, blind to anything but the fragments of his features reflected in the irregular keen shapes, his demons awoken and grinning wildly like hungry beasts to devour him at last. Blood took its’ time sliding from his palms and flowing through the stony, grey floor around him, his knees covered in thick armor and doing nothing but smashing the glass into tinier spears as he tried to crawl without destination. Loki tried to fight this hostile darkness with darkness of his own; a battle of titans. Something invisible was digging madly in his chest, an invisible hand that, like a cornered rat, used its’ nails to pierce through his skin, muscles and bones alike, trying to reach something that he did not know what. He would see flashes of scarlet pain, white shock and slick numbness unfolding in front of his widened eyes. Screams, pants, and invidious curses slapped him from everywhere and emptied his senses, driving the mad man madder.

He, in his turn, was weaker; a human, roughened and kicked around by life and its’ miseries, but not hardened enough for this. Tony Stark was lying sideways against one of his decumbent armchairs, his face pressed against the cushiony carpet, stained with blood drops. He had his eyes half opened, watching with a blank, mindless interest how the majority of his expensive drinks were being wasted, painting the floor, and blending eventually with the divine blood of the short-winded god in front of him. Tony wasn’t fighting back, his strength was the one of an ant trying to move a mountain with nothing but its’ willpower and stubbornness. He convulsed once again on the floor, the remnants of his whiskey sliding down his wide-opened mouth to the smooth synthetic threads. A new spasm drove his free, left hand to the front, his knuckles hitting against the stone stair with a hollow thud. Vomit climbed up his throat with a gush, springing from his lips and adding a sickening greenish colour to the already formed stain in the carpet. The smell of blood, the _feeling_ of blood, not his own nor on his hands, the man he was grabbing by the neck, writhing in despair and pure, pant-pissing fear. The stranger was begging him _Please, sir, let me go! Pleasepleaseplease have mercy… **No!** _ His scream would fade into a choking grunt and inaudible under the high-pinched, maniac laughter springing from his lips. 


	2. 1: Ab Ovo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I apologise beforehand for making you guys go through the whole Avengers scene, but it was a necessary evil to bore your eyes and minds out with it so I could reach where the story gives its' twist. I hope you enjoy!

The bright, golden sphere hanging with a stubborn magnificence over the skies of New York contrasted with the heavy, airless tension that seemed to compress that same city. Under thick layers of leather and metal, and bearing a horned helmet, Loki Laufeyson kept his gaze in the buildings’ rooftops, his eyes quivering with excitation; the hungry predator awaiting his prey. The staff spun lazily in his hand, the neon aura of the extra-terrestrial gem reflecting on his metallic horns and highlighting the blue of the demigod’s eyes.

He would finally hear the fire propellants echoing in the distance through the narrow gaps left between the tall monsters of cement and brick, arriving to the Stark building platform in less than a minute. Loki could feel the continuous stare of the man beneath the iron, and a smirk crept through the crevices of his icy features, puckish. The metallic arc rose as soon as it felt the feet of its’ master, framing the progressively dismantled figure of Tony Stark. The engineer didn’t smile; merely kept his gaze upon the demigod as if he was no figure that imposed awe or reverence. From the other side of the demilune, Loki followed the human’s steps into the building, the glass doors already opened for him to pass.

\- Please tell me you’re going to appeal to my humanity.

The ironic entry gained the God of Lies a cynical smile from the engineer who - ridden of his last piece of armor - felt naked and vulnerable in the presence of that being who would easily dismember him of the armor he had been born with. The only thing they wouldn’t ever take from him was the mask he wore always, the braggery with which he shield himself from the world.

\- Actually, I’m planning to threaten you.

\- You should have left your armor on for that. - Loki replied, pointing to Tony with the menacing looking scepter, the not less threatening smile rekindling on his lips. _«He’s got a point. »_ The engineer thought, and if JARVIS was capable of reading his mind, it would have certainly agreed with him in his plain, occasionally unnerving tone. He grimaced, following down the steps to his bar, his eyes divided between the half empty bottle of whiskey and the demigod in his living room.

\- Yeah. It’s seen a bit of mileage and you’ve got the glow stick of destiny. – He nodded, peeking down to himself as if to lament the lack of his protection. – Would you like a drink?

Without a second of hesitation in his voice, Loki snickered with hidden scorn, although inside he was slightly taken aback by the human’s apparent tranquility in his presence. He had expected fear or, in the best of hypothesis, a tremulous, unquiet look, alike to all the humans he had previously encountered. However, the daring that emanated from Tony Stark barely had visible flaws; maybe the single corner of his lips lifted up forcefully would have given his fear away, but it didn’t.

\- Stalling me won’t change anything.

\- No, no. Threatening. No drink? Are you sure? I’m having one. – Again, his movements – almost natural and relaxed as if he found himself in the presence of a friend or an acquaintance - made the God of Mischief furrow his eyebrows in interest and, also, a bit of despite. He turned around as the human imitated him to hold the winner of his heart – a square, translucent, bottle of whiskey – looking at it for a split second before facing again the demigod, who now stared at the large, window wall that opened a panorama to the boiling city of chaos and the cemetery of large buildings before the hem of the ocean. Tony peeked, with jitter, to the thunderous grip with which Loki held the staff now.

\- The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?

\- The Avengers. – The engineer countered, pouring a good two fingers high whiskey dose for himself. The demigod tilted his head slightly in incomprehension and raised an eyebrow, his eyes firing again to the human. Tony shrugged and rolled his eyes, as if he’d agree _«Yeah man, pretty stupid name I know. »_ \- That’s what we call ourselves. We’re sort of like a team. _“Earth’s mightiest heroes”_ -type thing.

The God of Trickery and Delusions, Loki, smirked to the ground before gazing at the human with disdain.

\- Yes. I’ve met them.

\- Yeah. – Tony gave him the biggest smile he could conjure, before his face turned solemn and his body tense, as if he were a cat trying to balance itself on the way between two rooftops, walking upon a power line, knowing that the tiniest of mistakes would cost its life. Loki, on the other hand, was spinning again the staff, sensing in the air the pressure that presaged the clash of two forces. He was a god, and the other a simple mortal with nothing but half a dozen shattered dolls that were no less mortal than him, and a armor that wasn’t even at his reach in that moment. He bit his anger and impatience back, and kept silent as Tony spoke: - It takes us a while to get any traction, I’ll give you that. But let’s do a head-count here. Your brother, the demigod...-

_There_. The reaction Tony was expecting. _«Fury. Impatience. Annoyance. Oh boy, you want to kill me so bad right now…! A lot of baby brother issues going in there, that’s for sure. »_ Loki turned around, his hand squeezing the staff and his jaw gritting as a quiet snarl came out of his strict lips. Tony took the chance to let his hands slip and grab the two silver bracelets resting on the balcony, locking them around his wrists.

-… A super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues, a couple of master assassins and _you,_ big fella, you’ve managed to piss off every single one of them.

\- That was the plan. – Loki stated, the proud, nearly rebel-child like smile drawn on his lips.

\- Not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they’ll come for you.

\- I have an army.

\- We have a hulk. – Tony countered yet again, walking up to the other side of the balcony and approaching the demigod as he sipped the drink.

\- I thought the beast had wandered off.

\- You're missing the point. – The engineer stated harshly, bluntly. - There is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the earth you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it.

The anger in the God of Mischief was now perfectly clear, melting away all the traces of politeness and neutrality from his handsome face, his lips twitching up to meet his thin, long nose and the scepter reaching its’ spear tip to Tony’s chest. The human breathed in swiftly, without a thought in breathing out and expanding his lungs again, as metal touched metal and a sound that seemed like an engine starting filled his ears and the room.

For a second, nothing happened, and the astonishment in the demigod’s features was almost worth any kind of torture or slow, painful death where Tony would finally meet his end.

Then, as if Hulk was knocking on his door, the whole room started to shake, the cups jingling behind the engineer, and his eyes locked in awe on the indent under the fireplace, where the logs were falling successively, as if they were hordes of people trying to flee from some terrible catastrophe. Loki looked around, wondering if that was some sort of mechanism of a trap to those who attempt to harm the human; if it were, then he would have to take his hat off and praise the cunningness of the engineer. If not, he would kill him as he intended.

Tony felt his ribs pushed inwards and his body forced to bend forward with the impact of some invisible hand in his chest; he was thrown back violently, carrying with him the glowing sphere of blinding blue that seemed to be expelled from his arc reactor. The man flew over his balcony, damaging his foot, until he was punched against the bar shelves, staying crucified against the wall for some seconds until the spasm of energy finally allowed him to fall in the ground, with glass glittering in his back, in _trencadis_. Few meters away, Loki hadn’t been tossed anywhere, but pinned against the floor as if the specter he held contained such heavy substance that the demigod failed to lift it.

Silence reigned in his airy throne, god-like and with mighty eyes watching the two pawns nailed like mere paper sheets to the ground, unable to move a muscle and unable to save themselves from the spider web they had unconsciously created and that now hung quietly bouncing in the space between them. Two parallel titans of energy had clashed, killing neither of their bearers but turning living into a drawling death. Now, the castle’ walls that man and god had so meticulously taken care of inside their minds - shielding them from others, and particularly from themselves - was being squeezed in the hands of a mightier force that wasn’t meant to be tamed.

With bleeding ears, Tony looked to the side with growing eyes, as a noise equivalent to a swarm of deathly wasps was heard with progressive intensity, and he had only time to turn his head and cover it with bloodied hands, before the whole glass wall burst into pieces, as if Wind itself had blown away his anger into the room.

Tony screamed. With two seconds of delay, Loki followed him in a lower cry of pain. Darkness crept inside, free to roam the minds of the broken and poisoning the everlasting wounds.

_What am I?_

_Laufeyson._

_So I’m no more than another stolen relic…_

_Until you might have use of me._

_Know your place, brother!_

_I could have done it, father! For you!_

_I could have done it._

_I could._

_I would have done it._

The hands of a grown child, fearful, blue like the eyes that stared to the cracked ceiling of the Stark building, empty. The hands that unveiled the hidden roots of his destiny, of his curse… of the reasons he was never _equal_. He was never one of them. The trembling hands that now held the power to destroy worlds and were chained to crueler beings that would bend the broken pieces of a once proud young Asgardian to their will. One that could not raise his head and walk with a straight back through the corridors of the palace anymore, who could not turn without his shadow tugging on his heels with fangs and icy tone. The reminders of his nature on the distrustful expressions of those he had considered allies, even friends.

_Friends_.

They say it doesn’t matter the circumstances in which a man is born, but who he grows to be.

_Lies. Lies. Lies. **Lies!**_

Tony closed his eyes wide shut, quivering to the flashes of memories unfolding and forcing they way in, coming from Loki’s mind, that unbearable feeling of rejection, that solitude, that wounded back filled with blades that had sunken so deep that there was no chance in pulling them out. The lies with which he had been blinded for so long that he no longer could distinguish life without the bind. The restrain in his hands, the gag in his mouth, the inferiority… It brought up all the feelings of self-loathing sleeping inside Tony’s heart, if he still had any and those beasts hadn’t eaten it whole.

**_Do not dare to pity me, foolish mortal!_ **

Tony wasn’t listening.

The look in Pepper’s eyes when she found him on the floor of that same room, not moving, not breathing, bottles like those that now carved his back with their sharp teeth, betraying him at his feet… he knew she wouldn’t have said a word aside from his name, sometimes shouting, sometimes a mere vestige of a murmur; she would have panicked, and tell JARVIS to call 911 and she would babble endlessly like she always did. But she had saved him. She had saved him more than once.

_Held between heaven and hell._

Tony stood up, shaken awake by a wobbly sounding JARVIS telling him that his enemy revealed no sign of life aside from a tenuous beating of heart. The engineer crawled as best as he could, feeling the occasional stings of Loki’s memories, worse than any kind of handover he had ever tasted. He couldn’t breathe, as if the air had been sucked out of his lungs by some cruel entity that thought that his parting from the world would not be without further suffering.

_The world will consume you, Anthony Stark._

A tricky hand pressed against the air and the engineer lost his balance, falling on the smooth surface of his carpet circle. A few seconds after, Loki was still quiet, and the lamps above them flickered once, and handed over their souls to the Creator.

\- Nobody told you to turn off the lights, JARVIS.

He was gone. Even that bloody, damned JARVIS was gone. Tony didn’t close his eyes but the numbness came nevertheless. The numbness always came.

_Crimson and alone I stand._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter! I hope I have not disappointed, and that you were able to reach the middle-end of it, and go pass through the Avengers scene (again, I humbly apologise, but it was necessary.....)  
> Also, many thanks to this amazing youtube user IDreamOfRain02, who made this exceptional Tony Stark fanmix, entitled "Sorrow Waited, Sorrow Won", which brought me great inspiration. (there are a couple of sentences that belong to one of the songs; search for the prettiest of them all, it's probably those)
> 
> *!* For those who don't know, "trencadis" is a technique used by the catalan modernist architect Antoni Gaudi, and consists in applying tiny fragments of ceramic together, creating a sort of mosaic. If you research the key word on google, or even the name of the artist, you might be able to find a better explanation C:

**Author's Note:**

> Okaaaaaay, short chapter but it's the prelude so I didn't want to extend too much into things. Anything that seems unclear to any reader, will become more explicit in next chapters.


End file.
